>The bios on newer PCs can access a disk with two methods.  For compatibility,
>it supports the old method with its 1024 cylinder limitation.  The newer
>method allows access to much larger disks (I'd have to look it up again,
>if you need to know the exact number, but believe me, there is quite some
>room left, even with todays rapidly growing disk sizes).

doesn't it just use 32 bit block numbers?

>The netbsd bootmanager (as well as the standard netbsd mbr, and the netbsd
>partition bootcode) does use the bios to read the kernel from disk, just as
>its linux/freebsd counterparts.  It does however try to use the newer method,
>it it determines that the old method wouldn't work.  Thus it is able to
>boot from partitions beyond the 8GB limit.

still doesn't help me.  i've got a 12 gig disk with 1.5 for win98, 3.5
for freebsd, and the remainder for netbsd (with / in the first 200
megs of that partition), but win98 is the only thing that osbs or the
netbsd boot blocks will boot.  the freebsd boot mangler used to be
able to boot itself, but never netbsd.

i can still boot either bsd if i put in the corresponding install
floppy and use those boot blocks...

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